I’m a UK student hoping to apply to some universities in the states this autumn. I’ve pretty much got the US application system (SAT, essays, etc) sussed, but I have just one question about submitting supplementary materials to colleges.
I guess my question boils down to: is it worth submitting supplementary materials if you’re not a “prodigy”?
Obviously this is a very subjective question.
For me personally, the conundrum is this:
I had been planning on submitting extra materials to colleges, because film-making is one of my main extra-curriculars and is going to be the subject of one of my essays.
But one line from the Columbia website, for example, made me wonder if its a good idea to submit my films after all: 'Applicants are required to submit a résumé (in pdf format) listing their film experience and recognition.’ Experience? Yes, I can talk about my experience of writing, shooting, and editing amateur films. But recognition? To me that implies having the film streamed at festivals etc. My films are on youtube, and have roughly 200 views each, but I never submitted them anywhere festival-wise, and I worry that I’d then look like a clown compared to some other kid in the applicant pool who had done short films that were streamed at Sundance or something.
I also feel like submitting a film has a lot more potential to be a detriment rather than an assett compared to other mediums. See, I was also considering submitting some photos of my paintings, since I did ‘A-level’ Art(UK school’s final year exams) and have a reasonably large portfolio. Comparing the films and the paintings, I feel like its a lot easier for a film to be terrible without you realising it, than it is for a painting.
Anyway, sorry for this rambling post, I know its quite specific but I’d really appreciate anyone’s thoughts on this. Thanks!
A general rule rule for top tier schools is that in order for an arts supplement to be helpful it should be of extremely high quality (ex. conservatory level for music, art school level for artwork). Otherwise you can list your ECs on the application and not provide a supplement. If you need guidance ask a professional (even an art/film teacher in your HS) to honestly appraise your work.
Not everyone has sundance level exposure at the high school level. I honestly don’t see any downside in this. Could you upload it to a different website instead of Youtube? Vimeo? Or privately host it? This way the # of views would not be visible.
But any sort of supplement you send can only help IMHO. I don’t think they will count it against you.
I had some music experience for a long period of time (multiple years,) but did not submit a supplement as it wasn’t competition-level, more for fun than anything else. I do recommend including the activity in your activity list on the Common App, especially if you spent a large amount of time on it, but submitting the supplement or not, at the end of the day, is up to you. If it’s something you do for fun/is calming, definitely frame it as such in your alumni interviews, as I did for music.
@sgopal2 I disagree. I believe a poor supplement can hurt. An admission officer has a very limited time to review each application and you don’t want time to be taken away from other stronger aspects of your application due to a subpar supplement. Second a subpar supplement can leave a negative impression of an applicant.
The logic of not submitting vs submitting a supplemental: there is bound to be disagreement. But I can tell you that the Coalition App has been using a feature called a Locker - where you can store things like this.
Each school and each admissions officer will likely view this differently. If I was an admissions officer, I’d certainly want to view your film portfolio. That doesn’t mean I’d be willing to sit through hours of videos. But a few short snippets of your work wouldn’t hurt. If they don’t think your application is competitive, then they simply will move on.
